Personal Story: July

Welp... July was not what I planned it to be.  Halfway through the month I had to take a trip to the ER to learn that I needed to have my gallbladder removed. That's some unfun adult stuff right there, friends.  So the whole month got flipped upside down for me, but we still managed to have some instagram worthy moments. You can see my insta posts from each month in 2015 so far here: January, February, March, April, May, and June.* Y'all know we love some time with our sweet nieces (that's right, we have TWO now!) and it's always fun when we go visit David's family to get to have his niece spend the night with us.  She loves to wake us up in the morning with a loud "cockadoodledoooooooo" outside our door.  This time she brought in some books and read us some stories as we woke up, since she wakes us up much earlier than we usually rise at home :)* This bag.  Shew, this bag.  I LOVE this bag.  I'm a bag lady - I've always loved bags and have just learned to control the impulse and only buy a bag if I truly love it.  And this bag?  Well, a good friend of mine said that if I were a bag, I would be this exact bag.  I COULD NOT AGREE MORE.  You too can love this bag by scooting over to the Noonday Collection website.  Noonday is a business started by a mama who partnered with some talented jewelry designers in Uganda to give them fair trade and to raise funds for her international adoption.  Now the business has grown to where you can sell Noonday jewelry and accessories your self.  I love a business with a big heart!* Speaking of international adoption, we had a fun time celebrating my little brother's second year in America coming to a close.  We could not be more proud of him and his fierce spirit.  He is getting so tall and continues to be so handsome.  This little man works so hard in school and has such a big heart for others.* One of the ways my little brother wanted to celebrate his adoption day was to have a game night, which included some friends who are like family.  Such a fun time together.* As a creative, I always underestimate how good it is for my creative spirit to take time to express myself in other mediums.  It had been a long while since I had taken the time to paint or do some mixed media work.  I bought some cheap "grown-up" water colors and spent some time just playing around.  It was good to get in a zen place while painting... I hope I remember to do this more often.* I've noticed that something about being in your late 20's, early 30's is that you really learn what friendships from growing up and college look like life friendships.  When you are no longer living on the same campus, or seeing each other at school and church every day, which friends do you still seek out.  And which friends still seek you out.  And Leah has been one of those friends. I met her in high school and we ended up in college together and I am so thankful for our forever friendship.  On her birthday in July I posted this first picture we took together in high school and then a picture of us together that day.  I am so thankful for this woman!!*Again, to link to the previous image, I had another favorite lady to celebrate in July and that is our sweet friend Kay.  Recently I have noticed just how much we have in common as adults, and it's not all fun stuff, and I am beyond grateful that I have her understanding ear... and her love and support.  I am rich in some good friends!* I mentioned it at the top of this post but I had to have my first surgery - I got my gallbladder removed.  In the grand scheme of things it's not that big a deal but leading up to it I had various anxieties about what it would all be like since I had never had surgery.  We had lots of work to do so that I could recover at least a couple of weeks without freaking out about work (when it's a small operation, it's quite noticeable when the boss lady is down).  David was such a good husband-nurse and we had plenty of friends and family bringing us food and babysitting me when David was out.  The surgery went well with only a tiny complication - so no complaints about that!*Recovery on the other hand... well... I will start out by saying that I have a vast well of patience for other people, but I have never been patient with myself.  And when you are the patient, you must be patient with yourself!  So I tried (and have been trying) very hard to take it slow, listen to my body and be a good patient.  It's not always been fun or easy, but I made it work.  This image was of the first time David could lay beside me.  He had felt so far away as my caregiver, as I was stuck in our guest bed.  It was so lovely to have him close.  I have so so so so much respect for people that have to have multiple surgeries, and for spouses that are caregivers.  This was a small drop in the bucket compared to what many people go through.... I hat is off to you.